The Ruins

The tagline says, "Terror has evolved," but the new thriller, The Ruins, is really just more of the same old, same old.

Adapted from a 2006 novel of the same name by Scott Smith, The Ruins follows the misfortunes of four American tourists---Jeff (Jonathan Tucker), Eric (Shawn Ashmore), Stacy (Laura Ramsey) and Amy (Jena Malone)-on vacation in Mexico. They, along with acquaintances Mathias (Joe Anderson) and Dmitri (Dimitri Baveas), venture out to uncharted Mayan ruins where Mathias' brother has joined an archaeological dig.

The movie, light-hearted and reminiscent of any number of spring break (think American Pie) films up until this point, takes the inevitable eerie turn once the travelers reach the jungle. As they scrounge around looking for the path that leads to the site, the would-be tomb-raiders notice they are being watched by two Mayan children. As anyone who has seen Mel Gibson's Apocalypto knows, small, silent Mayan children can be very, very creepy.

Director Carter Smith uses that fact to great effect, but after that, the plot becomes increasingly predictable. The Americans-accustomed to luxury and a carefree life-all of a sudden find themselves pitted in an unfamiliar place where they must now struggle to survive. With the addition of a carnivorous menace with a taste for human flesh, the movie degrades into standard horror fare.

The tourists, having found the ancient ruins, are now trapped on top of the massive pyramid by armed Mayan villagers. Smith takes the film where we expect it to go-the trapped explorers struggle against the monster residing within and with their own increasingly fragile psyches as food and water run out-but the end result is dissatisfying.

If this movie is meant to be taken as a full-fledged psychological thriller, that attempt falls short. The horror does not seem to warp the minds of the young vacationers as much as it ought to, the one exception being Stacy, who completely loses her mind.

As for the horror aspect itself, the film imitates the torture-porn style of Saw and Hostile in subjecting the audience to disgusting blood and gore rather than true terror. As such, there is no real suspense to be had here. Instead, one will find only the strong desire to turn away and wince while trying to suppress gags of popcorn and soda.